An 18-year-old college student from Culpeper, Virginia, was found dead Thursday in a jail cell after campus police arrested him.
Aris Eduardo Lobo-Perez was a freshman at Radford University, which is about 35 miles southwest of Roanoke, the school confirmed to News4.
The Radford University Police Department arrested Lobo-Perez and took him to the New River Valley Regional Jail about 11:55 p.m. Wednesday, jail Superintendent Gregory P. Winston said.
He was charged with public swearing or intoxication in public, Winston said in a press release.
At 7:50 a.m. Thursday morning, jail officers making routine checks found Lobo-Perez unresponsive in his cell. Emergency Medical Services came to the jail and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Medics took Lobo-Perez's body to the medical examiner's office in Roanoke. Virginia State Police are handling the investigation.
"I have a lot of pain," Lobo-Perez's mother, Dixiana Perez, told News4 on Saturday. "I just want to know what happened to my baby."
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Relatives and friends held a yard sale Saturday to raise money for funeral expenses. Friends also set up a GoFundMe page for the family.
A spokesperson for the university told News4 in a statement that Lobo-Perez majored in sports management.
"It's hard just because he's only been there a few weeks and I know he was happy about starting a new chapter," Lobo-Perez's sister, Jennifer Turcios, told News4.
Friends of the teen said he was always bright and witty.
"He was a funny guy. He always loved to have fun. His laugh, his jokes, everything about him was just really good and it was a good vibe," Joey Fernandez said.
The school sent a statement to students, faculty and staff on Thursday about his death and had grief counselors available to talk to students on Thursday and Friday.
